Journals of Dorothy Wordsworth, Vol. 1 (of 2)Wordsworth, Dorothy
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Journals of Dorothy Wordsworth, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Wordsworth, Dorothy
Authors, English -- 19th century -- Diaries; Wordsworth, Dorothy, 1771-1855 -- Diaries; Wordsworth, William, 1770-1850 -- Family
The distance from one Linn to the other may be half a mile or more,
along the same ell-wide walk. We came to a pleasure-house, of which the
little girl had the key; she said it was called the Fog-house, because
it was lined with "fog," namely moss. On the outside it resembled some
of the huts in the prints belonging to Captain Cook's Voyages, and
within was like a hay-stack scooped out. It was circular, with a
dome-like roof, a seat all round fixed to the wall, and a table in the
middle,--seat, wall, roof, and table all covered with moss in the
neatest manner possible. It was as snug as a bird's nest; I wish we had
such a one at the top of our orchard, only a great deal smaller. We
afterwards found that huts of the same kind were common in the
pleasure-grounds of Scotland; but we never saw any that were so
beautifully wrought as this. It had, however, little else to recommend
it, the situation being chosen without judgment; there was no prospect
from it, nor was it a place of seclusion and retirement, for it stood
close to the ell-wide gravel walk. We wished we could have shoved it
about a hundred yards further on, when we arrived at a bench which was
also close to the walk, for just below the bench, the walk elbowing out
into a circle, there was a beautiful spring of clear water, which we
could see rise up continually, at the bottom of a round stone basin full
to the brim, the water gushing out at a little outlet and passing away
under the walk. A reason was wanted for placing the hut where it is;
what a good one would this little spring have furnished for bringing it
hither! Along the whole of the path were openings at intervals for views
of the river, but, as almost always happens in gentlemen's grounds, they
were injudiciously managed; you were prepared for a dead stand--by a
parapet, a painted seat, or some other device.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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